Power & Motion features the Gopher iQ by Vinergy & Danfoss

Justin Meng, CEO of Vinergy, Inc., easily drives the Gopher iQ through a grape vineyard in Bakersfield, California.

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Slowly, silently, effortlessly. The autonomous grape cart does not necessarily attract much attention as it drives through the rows at Parminder Brar’s 900-acre family farm in Kern Country, Ca. But it has a big effect.

Parminder has volunteered to test the cart at his table grape farm this harvesting season. And his verdict is clear: The cart not only makes the workday for his seasonal employees a lot easier, but also drives up productivity.

A cart operator navigates the screen and interface powered by Danfoss to set automated paramaters for the Gopher iQ.

With the cart between the rows, more human hands can focus on picking. They simply fill up the autonomous cart with boxes full of ripe table grapes as it passes.

“I am extremely proud. With our Gopher IQ cart, we can improve productivity for an average picking crew as much as 30%,” said Justin Meng, president and CEO at Vinergy. “This translates into real savings for the farmer. It also frees up available hands. And this is key right now as farmers across the U.S. wrestle with labor shortages and rising wages.” 

The plan is for the carts to be available on a rental basis for a monthly fee that includes service. Vinergy aims to have the first 60 to 75 carts available next harvesting season and to ramp up from there.

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